Let the Sun Shine Through
by hollyg20
Summary: You need to tell her. You don’t know how she feels…I don’t know how she feels…but she does, Harry. She has the right to know and decide for herself,” Ron told him. -Set in 7th year. Just a short little story. Please R&R.


Well, to my reviewers on various fics, I'll just thank you here in case you're reading this. Uh, make that the one-shots, because there's another chapter coming up soon for "Everybody Thought Wrong" so I'll thank you guys there! Here goes!

Kate: Still don't know who you are, but thanks for the lovely review again :) I know I emailed you, but a review that nice deserves two thank yous (or whatever number I'm at now).

Tamar: Thanks! I thought no one was EVER going to click on my stupid link! lol...I'm glad that you did and I'm glad you liked...I like your stuff as well :)

Muzzy: Thanks a lot...I'm glad I could cheer you up. I feel a little bad that this one is so depressing in the beginning lol...but don't worry, it gets happier at the end :)

the-power-of-love: Thank you. If you're reading, I hope you enjoy this as well.

I don't own HP...blah, blah, blah. I'm sure you all know I don't. So...forget that and just read it :) (and review, please).

**Let the Sun Shine Through**

Harry stared morosely out at the rain falling on the Hogwarts grounds. It was quite early in the morning still - 5:36 AM, to be exact. Being a Saturday morning, there weren't even any of his dorm mates up frantically studying or doing extra homework. He glanced over at Ron, who was sprawled out on his back snoring, sighed, and turned back to the window. He needed to talk to somebody, but he didn't figure Ron would be too pleased to be woken up at the crack of dawn on the weekend, no matter what it was for. It was still raining, but enough light was starting to break through the clouds that if he kept the draperies open, he'd eventually wake everyone up. He decided to go down to the common room and find something to keep himself occupied - just because he couldn't sleep didn't mean everyone in his dormitory should suffer.

On a whim, he grabbed his book bag on the way down. He figured he hadn't even started on the huge essay Snape had assigned to be handed in the following Tuesday. Potions essays never had come very easily to him, _maybe because that stupid git won't _let_ me do anything right in there_, thought Harry. He found himself being very conscientious about doing his work lately, not only because of the fact he had to get top grades to become an Auror, but also because he finally had started to listen to Hermione and follow her example. He explained to everyone that he had realized that she was right when it came to things like that, and most people took his explanation at face value and left him alone.

Ron, of course, had given him a great deal of grief for that, and eventually found out what the real cause was. Harry was in love and wanted to impress the girl - naturally, he couldn't impress the girl if he was screwing up in lessons and didn't have any ambition or goals…it was 7th year, after all. Harry was not only in love; he was in love with their best friend. After Ron got over the initial shock that came with learning his best mate fancied the girl that he himself used to fancy, he was all for Harry owning up to his feelings. Harry remembered the conversation they had the previous week.

_"You don't understand, Ron…I can't just walk up to her and tell her I love her after seven years of friendship. Things just don't work that way. You don't tell someone you love them when you know they don't feel the same way about you…it's better this way."_

_"I'm no expert, Harry, because if I was, I would have said something to her when I should have. But I am with Luna now, and if you and Hermione wouldn't have pushed me into telling her how I felt last year, I wouldn't have her. I can't imagine how that would be. You need to tell her. You don't know how she feels…I don't know how she feels…but she does, Harry. She has the right to know and decide for herself," Ron told him._

In his heart, Harry knew that Ron had a point…a very _good_ point, actually, which was alarming in and of itself. He assumed that Luna had had some influence on him during the year they spent together so far. He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed he'd gotten down to the common room until he heard someone softly crying in an armchair on the far side of the room. All he could see was the girl's arm draped over the arm of the chair and her head bent down slightly, resting on it. He didn't know whether to turn around and go back to the dormitories or stay right where he was, as to not draw more attention to himself, when he heard, "…Harry? Is that you?" whispered from the direction of the chair.

He shook his head in disbelief. It was Hermione in the chair, and he hadn't even recognized her. The girl he loved, his best friend - she was in pain and he hadn't even known it. He dropped his bag and made his way over to her. "Yeah, it's me. How'd you know? I couldn't even tell it was you, it was so dark down here."

Hermione sighed. "I didn't really _know_ if it was you or not…I was just hoping, I guess."

The realization that it wasn't even six o'clock and she was sitting up in the common room in the dark, seemingly waiting for him, didn't escape Harry. He figured something awful must have happened to her if she was that upset, and he wondered why she just didn't come looking for him. "Erm…why are you sitting down here in the dark, anyways, 'Mione?"

He looked into her liquid brown eyes searchingly, and she was taken aback by the look in his own vividly green eyes. She wanted to believe what she thought she saw there was true, but the only way to find that out for sure would be to tell him. She wasn't about to do that. She wasn't prepared to give up their friendship in three simple words. She began to wonder why three such small words, insignificant on their own, could become so powerful and life-altering when uttered together. So she remained silent.

"Hermione?" he questioned again, this time even more gently than the first. "Is there something wrong?"

The tears that had been flowing freely down her cheeks before he came down to the common room were stinging her eyes and threatening to fall again. She willed herself not to cry; not to show him what she was truly feeling. She knew there was no way he could reciprocate the feelings she held in her heart. He was popular, charming, and the most handsome boy in their year. Everyone accepted the fact that she and he were friends, but she knew no one expected him to actually _date_ her. She looked in the mirror every morning and saw a bushy-haired, plain nobody…there was no chance he could see her as more than a friend.

She knew she had to say something to convince him that she was really fine, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what. Hermione, the one who knew it all, who read every book - she couldn't think of a thing to say to the boy kneeling in front of her. She snuck another glance down at him and saw the same worried look on his face he'd had a few minutes earlier. "No, Harry," she whispered at last, "there's nothing wrong."

He knew she had to be lying. The girl he loved was bubbly and full of life; the one sitting in the chair in front of him looked despondent and overcome with anguish. It broke his heart to see her like that. He slowly stood up, carefully avoiding her eyes. He was afraid that if she looked at him now, she would see everything he felt for her written on his face. She thought he was going to leave; her heart started to beat wildly as she thought about how she had driven him away from her. Instead, he pulled her up from the chair and held her tight against him.

At first, she hung limply in his arms, refusing to believe what he had just done. Not that it meant anything of course…friends could hug each other when they were feeling down. But if it didn't mean anything, why could she feel his heart thumping against her chest just as fast as hers was beating? As she reached her arms up to hold him to her, she could feel his whole body trembling, and when he bowed his head she could hear his shallow breathing in her ear. She felt consumed at that moment by her love for him - it made her feel like flying, it made her want to weep, but most of all, it frightened her. Not the same fear she had before of being rejected, but the fear that comes when you realize you love someone so much you would die for them.

Harry was having similar struggles within himself as he held her. He shut his eyes tightly and breathed in her familiar smell. It almost felt as if he was dreaming. When he felt her raise her arms up and draw him closer, his heart felt like it was going to burst. He lightly brushed her cheek with his lips - so lightly she almost couldn't tell if it was real. She started and hesitantly looked up at him.

"Harry?" she asked in a broken voice.

He held his finger to her lips. He was almost certain that the one thing he thought could never happen - that Hermione could love him - was, in fact, true. He knew if he told her he loved her and she didn't feel the same that she would always be his friend. It wouldn't be what he wanted, and it certainly wouldn't be the same as it was before, but he couldn't go on living the way he was. He knew he would never be able to find the words to tell her how he felt about her, so he decided to try to show her. He removed his finger from her lips and used that hand to pull her face closer to his. He went slowly so that if she wanted to stop him, she could, before anything really happened.

She didn't make a move other than to close her eyes and let out a little sigh. He took that as encouragement and let his lips meet hers. He felt everything pour out of him in that moment and felt as though all the weight he had been carrying around for the last year had lifted. Even though he felt her begin to smile as they parted he couldn't seem to open his eyes to look at her. He was afraid if he opened his eyes she wouldn't really be there, that it would all have been a dream.

He didn't have to open his eyes to make sure she was really standing in his arms. "How long?" she asked in a soft voice.

He gradually lifted his lids to see her standing with a soft smile on her tear-streaked face. He gazed at the girl standing in front of him, and was filled with wonderment at how she picked everything up intuitively out of one kiss. He smiled back at her and replied, huskily, "About a year. I never thought you felt the same way."

"You were the reason I was down here this morning. I was thinking about how hopeless my situation was, and then you were here. I thought I was dreaming."

Harry wanted to laugh sincerely for the first time in a long while when he heard that. "I felt exactly the same way. I still can't believe this really happened."

They began to hear some other students rustling around above them and knew they wouldn't be alone for long. Hermione ran to the window. "Look! It's stopped raining."

"So…what did you have planned for the rest of the day? If you weren't doing anything…maybe we could…take a walk?" Harry ventured.

"I wouldn't dream of doing anything else. Let's go get dressed." With that, she leaned up and gave him a light kiss on the cheek; almost an exact mirror image of the kiss he had given her earlier that started it all. She blushed and grinned at him before turning around and running lightly up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. He had a rather wide smile on his own face as he picked up his forgotten book bag and started up the stairs to his own room.


End file.
